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LB Advent Calendar 2005 - Sheevah's Home by Sheevah

Akcy 10 10 10 10
alan 7 9 9 8
Andzia9 10 10 10 10
Angel_K 10 10 10 10
CC 9 9 10 9
Danja 8 8 9 8
drguycrain 9 9 9 9
Dutchy 9 10 9 9
dya1403 10 9 10 9
eRIC 9 9 9 9
Gerty 8 10 9 9
gfd 8 8 9 9
High Priestess 7 6 8 9
Hochgiftig 9 8 9 10
Jay 9 9 10 10
John 9 8 8 8
Jose 8 10 8 9
Kristina 8 9 9 9
Loupar 10 9 10 10
manarch2 9 9 9 8
MichaelP 8 10 9 10
misho98 8 9 10 9
Moonpooka 8 9 9 9
Obig 9 9 10 10
Phil 10 9 9 9
Ryan 9 10 9 9
Sash 8 9 8 8
Scottie 10 9 10 10
SeniorBlitz 8 9 8 9
Talos 9 8 10 8
Treeble 7 9 9 8
Whistle 8 6 8 10
young Lara Croft 8 8 9 9
 
release date: 08-Dec-2005
# of downloads: 111

average rating: 8.95
review count: 33
 
review this level

file size: 24.80 MB
file type: TR4
class: Xmas
 


author profile(s):
email(s):
sheevah@firgroves.de

Reviewer's comments
"As far as home levels go, I suspect this is one of the longest, clocking in close to an hour, and while it's not Croft Manor itself it's just as big with a nice outdoors swimming pool and a couple of utility shacks. Gameplay boils down to exactly what you expect, with a lot of keys to find scattered all over the place so lots of running around. There were a couple of nice touches, such as the doorbell and the toilet flushes, and overall it's a pretty cozy place — and thanks to the included pictures it seems the author managed to build a TRLE-accurate version of its real life counterpart. Not a bad way to decompress after a long day at work. 50 minutes, 4 secrets. 02/23" - Treeble (05-Mar-2023)
"There are a lot of keys to be found in this house, and also a kinda confusing underwater labyrinth to work through. The cats are cute, and the whole house is well-designed and makes you wish you lived there (just not with that underwater maze, I hope it's not part of the real house!)." - alan (30-Dec-2021)
"i just long to play good house levels and this is Another great home level by sheevah! plus this one is based on her actual home how cool is that? so much care and detail has gone into this in almost every aspect of the level! i loved the textures and objects. OK so you start off outside the house in the snow and have a find your way inside, and from then on its back forth between inside and outside opening up more rooms and parts of the garden or sheds with just some really fun and interesting puzzles and tasks: melting frozen pools or puddles with heavy boulders or using fire, climbing trees, extinguishing fire, movable and raised block puzzles in the shed and the attic, speaking of the attic the timed run and puzzle in there with getting a fire torch on a raised block after youve opened the secret area - fantastic! the pussy cats were so cute to see as well. theres a lot of keys and switches to find which is to be expected but it was just so fun exploring around, the fews things i wasnt keen on was the block puzzle in the cellar and the underwater maze area toward the end of the level, i just got lost and found them both tedious and once again had to use a walkthrough, also i wasnt keen on that creepy music that kept playing on repeat in the house but i think that just down to personal taste really! enough of the rare shortcomings, this is another amazing house level i will definitely remember and replay in the future" - John (30-Jun-2021)
"A very interesting ride with a Xmas theme based on the author’s house, the decorations are pretty unique and the house is very vibrant, there are no enemies on this level only a variety of tasks and puzzle to do, some secrets were really hard to find and I also didn’t like the box puzzle on the basement since I thought it was to lucky-based, but aside from that it’s a very entertaining and pleasant ride." - SeniorBlitz (05-Nov-2017)
"What a nice level. Sheevah has remodeled her home in the level editor and the little original touches and custom objects are too ingenious to explain such as the cats, using a snowball to break ice, a timed run with a torch and block puzzles. Great level, don't miss it! Sheevah might have to get the renovators back in after Lara was here;)." - Ryan (15-Jun-2016)
"One of the best chrismas I played, really beautiful and enjoyable, we can see all the effort of Sheeva !" - Angel_K (26-Dec-2015)
"I remember playing this when I was little and could never enter the house lol. Now that I know what I'm doing I managed to finish it and I love it! The gameplay is mostly item hunting and pulling switches, but they are used in some very innovative ways. The timed-run in the attic and the water puzzle deserve to be mentioned as highlights of the gameplay. The house looks amazing and I respect the builder for doing it her own way with original layout instead of just copying the classic Lara house. The rooms looked great, the atmosphere was amazing and I loved the piano music inside. I think more camera hints could've been given at some points but let me not downrate the atmosphere because of this. Found all four secrets and putting them in giftboxes was a great touch. Recommended!" - misho98 (20-Dec-2015)
"One of the most beautiful and picturesque Christmas levels present in the TRLE world, in style Advent Kalendar. Despite ten years, the attention to detail is fabulous. The kittens in the House give a touch of peace and warmth of the Christmas holidays. Varied gameplay and not taken for granted, thanks to some objects that were created for the occasion. To play absolutely, preferably in the company of kitten "that looks more kittens" around the level." - Talos (08-Dec-2015)
"Only just got around to playing this. A Christmas level at Easter time 2015 (the time of me playing), and ten years on from its release! As a relative latecomer to TR:LE levels it is a joy to refresh the main menu page frequently to find yet more featured levels from yesteryear - this being no exception. A few tips were needed to find well hidden trapdoors and crawlspaces behind "kickable" broken wall segments and my least favourite thing - an underwater maze - but all in all this was an enjoyable level. The addition of the cute cat was a bonus." - High Priestess (05-Apr-2015)
"I was surprised to see two other reviewers had the same idea like me and play this oldie this Christmas (this level will actually enter the "levels of the month"-list after my review), but I can understand them as what is there not to love in a superbly crafted home level with lots of cute objects, good gameplay and great atmosphere? This 40 minute level is actually nothing but a neverending key hunt, but a very special one indeed and there are a few great ideas realised here, not even speaking of the great object usage. I really enjoyed taking the torch up the attic and then down in the bedroom with timed runs, raising blocks and burning floors, the ideas behind it are simple but this was just a fantastic puzzle. The underwater maze you can drain and flood how you need is quite well done, as well as the block puzzle in the garden. Now coming to the mentioned object usage - I think this level was quite an essential level for the following Christmas levels, as many objects appeared for the first time and I have to appreciate that. The two cats are really lovely, and setups like pushing an invisible button to release a rolling ball to break an ice pool are simple but ingenious. Apart from that, the idea to rebuild the builder's house was great and I think it was well put into the TRLE world, maybe some textures weren't placed so well and a few rooms look rather plain, so this level hasn't aged that well in terms of visuals, but the warm colours used inside are really worthwhile and the washed-out cellar textures too. The background sound is decent and a few additional tracks make up for a nice Christmas spirit. The one things that I really disliked was that the placement of some of the items were not really obvious and partly it was pure luck to find them without the walkthrough, like putting the battery on the teddy bear or some of the keys right at the start, but this is a rather minor gripe to an otherwise wonderful X-mas level. Found four money packs as secrets (great idea) that were nicely hidden. Recommended highly." - manarch2 (01-Jan-2013)
"This was one of the most beautiful christmas levels. Nice snowy garden, ingenious puzzles, cozy rooms, funny and cute cats. Wonderful atmosphere and relaxing music." - Andzia9 (31-Dec-2012)
"Nice Christmas level, worth the time, I played it 2 years ago, the atmosphere is cozy and comfortable." - young Lara Croft (23-Dec-2012)
"Aside of being technically well achieved , I would qualify this level as an Intelligent one. There are many keys to find , yet it never became confusing. The playing area is rather compact and there is no too unrealistic actions to perform as it can be the case sometimes in levels where the causes and consequences of actions are far fetched. This is a puzzles oriented level with many kinds of them , where the player needs sometimes to observe (the crowbar was hard to spot for me) ; there is also some enjoyable action with a timed course on raising blocks in the attic. The technical quality of the work is obvious to me, for example with the 3 movable boxes puzzle , even if you move again one of the boxes after placing it where it should, the global puzzle do not reset. There is good use of objects, a good decor , a couple of humoristic moments , and an atmosphere which is good with no irritable audio tracks. Quite an interesting level. [ 1 h 16 / 4 secrets ]" - eRIC (20-Dec-2009)
"I know, actually, only two level builders who have shown us her home. One level is from Clara and the other from Sheevah. And because Lara and me just had nothing to do, we wanted to visit Sheevah. Only unfortunately, she was not at home. So we have explored, of course by the consent of Sheevah, the house on own initiative. Besides, unfortunately, a window pane has broken. A few vases are also broken, but they were so ugly that that is not so bad. Furthermore the attic has a hole because I have dropped there mistakenly a torch. But I have found, at least, the missing cash reserves. And I am sure which Lara will arise for the resulted damage. The house and the property look really great. And it is furnished tastefully. Therefore a place where one can feel fine. Then after about one and a half hours we have gone again." - Scottie (28-Jun-2009)
"i loved the textures in this level. the combinations make it incredibly warm and ambiant. i really appreciated that this home level was not just a slightly altered lara's-mansion, but really was an original home in a lot of ways. And for a Christmas level there's PLENTY to do and explore. i'm not sure what to make of the main piano music in the house; it really seemed to work against the atmosphere rather than create it. But i really like the attention to detail and the vast amount of interesting things to do. i'm also not quite sure what to make of the cat." - drguycrain (20-Feb-2008)
"This was a delightful romp through a very spacious and unusual estate that took doggone near an hour and a half, even with the walkthrough. A good part of the action takes place near the end, where you have an absorbing torch puzzle mixed with a timed crate run, a pushblock puzzle, and an underwater maze in rapid-fire order. Along the way are scattered secrets with various goodies in carefully wrapped packages. There are no enemies, in keeping with the Christmas motif, but I regret to admit that I was forced to shoot the cat once in the behind (without killing it, of course) to get it away from a window I needed to open. It suffered a little indignity, but that's all. This is one of the best Christmas levels yet, and I don't know how I missed it the first time around. Highly recommended." - Phil (17-Oct-2007)
"Wonderful level, beautifully decorated, no wonder since we can explore the auhor's own house, she made everything with as much care as any of us would if we were designing our own place. Every room set and furnished well, you have a nice home Sheevah, and cute cats, involving them was a very nice touch. I followed Nicki around, just to see what he is doing. My guess is, that it's him going out around the house, checking his territory, and Cindy staying upstairs. Very good gameplay with torch puzzle, melting and breaking ice, pushy cubes, climbable tree, just to mention a few. Sometimes I really had think about what to do next, at first I had some trouble finding the way, because Sheevah asked us in the readme not to make a mess, so I didn't shoot things, until I found that some boxes contain keys. Great level, highly recommended." - Akcy (06-Jan-2007)
"Lovely music to accompany you on your travels throughout this jolly-feeling Christmas level. Some nice retexturing of the torch as ... a giant match! Lots of Christmas presents here as well, unfortunately most of them require shooting, but you can still find a special few that you can open. I must say that I found this level a little bit difficult here and there because some of the things you were expected to do were certainly out of the ordinary (I don't think I would have ever guessed to climb the tree or the use of that battery). This means a few trips to the forums are in order for most of us and a level is never as satisfying to complete once you know you have to 'cheat'. Very nice level though and one which I finished in 2 hours and found 3 secrets." - gfd (25-Dec-2006)
"What a nice level! Although I played this level in the summer time I enjoyed every bit. I love cats and so does Sheevah as I noticed from the many pictures in the room and the wondering cat that I encontered along the way. Original puzzles wich put me in a difficult position of not knowing how to solve them. Lovely Cristmas atmosphere and so many preasents....." - dya1403 (15-Jun-2006)
"This is really an amazing level! It looks so good! And it's not that easy as it seems to be. The place is lovely, there are a lot of nice sounds and fly-by cameras. The texture sounds are very, very nice! The puzzles are just great! One thing I have to say is about the objects. The crowbar is really good placed. Teh secrets are nice hidden. And you've used SO MANY new objects! This looked really amazing! You can do a lot of nice things, such as rolling the balls, smelting ice and more. It's a pity that you can shoot those snowballs, but never mind. The level is just really great!" - Danja (19-May-2006)
"Normally I hate house levels, but this had plenty to do other than the usual running around some house or other. There are no enemies, and the only animal are cats, who act like monkeys. Lots to pick up including umpteen keys to eventually get a battery off the chimney. Good puzzles, especially the water tunnel one at the end. The atmosphere is well structured with festive textures/graphics but not over done. The sound was excellently sculptured to fit in, from the cat meow to festive musak. Well worth a play at any time of the year." - Whistle (15-Apr-2006)
"The atmosphere was just right and even though a bit dark not so much as to hate it. There are interesting timed runs in this level as well as secrets well hidden but not too difficult to find. Your goal is to find keys, two candles, a battery and a Christmas card with greetings from Sheevah. The house is beautifully done with the living room downstairs which is great with the tree and furniture and the garden outside. I did have some trouble though at some point and got stuck because of a pine tree we had to climb and there was no hint, at least I didn't see one, for it. I found four secrets and really liked Sheevah's house. Next year maybe she'll invite us to spend Christmas with her since it is so big. ;)" - Kristina (05-Mar-2006)
"Well, here we have a level with very much work from the author. There are very good puzzles, new objects, new situations, movements,... but I'm not sure about the gameplay. Perhaps gameplay is too much no-lineal, and sometimes you don't know what to do when you pick up an item or where to go (for example: what can I do with the battery?). Another things I didn't like were too much keys, simply architecture, and you would have to explore the entire level each time you were stucked. This does the game more tedious. You'll have to move your brain very much if you want to finish this level." - Jose (31-Jan-2006)
"I have to admit that I permanently visit the homepage of the author, because I suppose from the previous levels that it worth to jump at it. It didn't disappointed me this time either. I liked the climbable tree, the crowbar. This is a beautiful, interesting level; without a walkthrough you have to puzzle your brain enough times. There are 4 secrets on the level. The block-pushing was also interesting, also in the house and in the cellar, where you have to set them up mirrored. The cat was funny. :) I was surprised at the beginning, when we, as a guest, entered the house by shooting out a window. But Lara is like that. :) Thank you for the great adventure Sheevah! Merry Christmas! :) You can find a Hungarian walkthrough (as we don't have English version), savegames and pictures here: http://treditor.hu/16/sheevah_s_home.htm" - Obig (25-Jan-2006)
"This is a very cute level made by Sheevah. It gives us a very deep look into the private life of Sheevah. We start in front of her house and after we broke in (because we lost the keys or something) we meet some of the cats, actually there were 3 cats in my house. Inside we can search the whole house, including the cellar and the huuuge garden. Even a catacomb part under the garden. This level was very nice to play and everything looked really great. The puzzles were not to hard, because it is christmas. I found every secret and they were hard to find. Thank you Sheevah for this level." - Hochgiftig (17-Jan-2006)
"What seems to start off so innocently with a home level, and what a lovely home it is too, Sheevah sure is living large, turned out to be not so innocent and when I'd got through the first fifteen minutes, and having had to consult the stuck forums quite a few times, my poor head was spinning. But this isn't a bad thing, it shows how Sheevah's expertise at fooling and blindsiding the player is top notch, for instance the placement of the crowbar was genius but I never would have found it even if someone had hit me on the head with it, and one of the first keys blended into it's surroundings so well I must have walked over it a dozen times before I by sheer fluke spotted it. What is also great about this home level is that there are actual puzzles integrated into it instead of just locating keys, though there is that as well, you get timed block jumps in the attic, a movable block puzzle in the basement, and many more besides, you even get to find 4 secret stashes of cash...has Sheevah never heard of a bank! So I was loving this game, even with it's slight frustrations, until an hour in after just having completed the water maze and having collected the 4th secret, when I reloaded and the game crashed, and every other save did the same so I couldn't finish because of the save bug, and as my time is fairly limited I wasn't going to play through again for maybe 5 minutes more, but what I did play was wonderfully done and I congratulate Sheevah on a great level. By the way, you have to play this level just to see the cats as they are absolutely gorgeous, and if you give them a little shot in the butt with a stray bullet, accidentally of course, they are even cuter as they go on the attack and try and scratch your legs...too adorable!" - Sash (07-Jan-2006)
"Just a wonderful christmas level from Sheevah: I've loved every room and every corner of the house. Gameplay is enjoying and full of details like the way of breaking the ice in the swimming pool or the money gifts. I was lost sometimes and wandered here and there following the cats but finally I got all the secrets and Lara entered in the presents room. Wonderful music and atmosphere, a lot of original objects and perfect lighting: I want that house!" - Loupar (24-Dec-2005)
"This is a really terrific level. Even without the idea of it's being a Christmas level, it would stand up to the scrutiny of the most experienced players. If this is really Sheevah's house then long may she live and enjoy this beautiful place. It's a lovely well constructed level with very appropriate objects and tremendous attention to detail. The crowbar (what every household needs, lol) is very well placed. I loved meeting the cats inside the house, and letting them out for the night. I followed one all the way round the garden. Loved all the ideas here, like melting the ice to get a key, rolling a snowball, and kicking the rotten walls in the basement. But it's not a walk in the park - I mean the garden - as the player has to really use their little grey cells to figure out certain things, like the timed run in the attic, getting the torch up to the attic, putting out the fire in the sittingroom, those switches in the shed that allow us to get onto the roof, the flooding and draining of an underwater maze type area, block pushing puzzles, and many more. Despite the bizarre idea of a large underground tunnel system under an ordinary house everything has the air of being very realistic. The simpler stuff is shooting and finding essential pickups. So there is plenty of climbing, swimming, jumping, shooting, rope swinging, searching, opening doors and boxes, and the main idea here of finding keys. A lovely level to play this Christmastime. Sheevah asks us not to make a mess in her house. Em . . . is it that time already! Gotta go . . . *runs away*" - CC (23-Dec-2005)
"I for one, am mighty glad that Sheeva took up building once more. She proves that she still has major building skills. The level just looks real good. There are lots of nice little touches, like the screens of the PC's, the cat, great looking flares, the torch, a picture of Sheeva and so on. Some she made herself and some not, but it is all the overall picture Sheeva put together, that makes a level look great. Playing wise, that is another story. This wasn't as straight forward for me anyway, but I got all the secrets and the secret key as well and hit the finishing trigger after getting the Xmas card. The hardest was the jumping to get to the floor one had to burn and I am probably not the only one that had to do it twice, first time to find out that you needed the Torch and the second time for real LOL. And talking about mazes, this was a very nasty one (in my opinion), although the idea was great. I just loved the cat and I have to be honest that I tripped over it quite a couple of times and once even shot it as it sat in front of a door I wanted to open and couldn't. But I felt ashamed so I reloaded and left the room and the cat came away from the door. Felt embarrassed a bit of breaking in and trashing Sheeva's house a bit, but then what else do we expect from Lara LOL. 08-09-2005" - Gerty (23-Dec-2005)
"Personally I'm not very fond of Home levels, but this level was surprisingly different of what I expected, the keys were hard to find i was looking for one from the Christmas presents and must have walked right over it about a hundred times before I got a clue to it's location, then onwards collecting Keys. putting the cat out (lovely cat BTW) The crate/button puzzle in the sheds was a nice one, had me going back and forth a couple of times before figuring it out. Pushing the snowball was nice, normally you expect it in your head at a certain point, but no... You have to find 2 candles to complete the decorations in the house so you can move on again numerous keys (lost count) and a puzzle with a Torch including a nasty timed run to get (untill you find the button making it all a bit easier :-) A nice underwater maze with the last Key and a message from Sheevah. Found 3 secrets and it was about 12.000 Euro's nice party at Christmas. In the end youll find a waterskin to put out the Fire in the Fireplace so you can get a battery (best brand) to get a Teddy Bear singing Christmas carols and the last door opens where the Christmas Card can be found, very nice level. maybe I'm going to like these Advent levels again one day. This one put me back on track. 22-12-2005" - Dutchy (22-Dec-2005)
"A nice looking level based on Sheevah's own house and comes complete with cats. You will search for keys to the various rooms in the house, and two candles have to be located. You will get to use the torch and there's also a small timed run. In a shed in the garden you will have a block puzzle to solve, and there is also one later on in the cellar area which will lead you to an underground maze, but don't fret because this maze was actually a lot of fun to explore. Activate a teddy bear near the end and you will be led to a Christmas message from Sheevah which ends the level. All in all; a nice Christmas level which is beautifully done with snow covered gardens and the most comfortable of homely touches, but a little frustrating for me as I got stuck several times and was easily confused by all those doors and keys; in fact, it's pity the butler was on holiday because he would have been a great help." - Moonpooka (21-Dec-2005)
"What a superb idea and what a wonderful execution of it. Sheevah has remodeled her own house and garden and it would simply take too long to list all those wonderful little touches that are added here in this nightly setting, like her two cats that are roaming around, the plenty of great and sometimes funny audio effects, the pictures, the suitable objects and so on. And it would really also deserve a higher gameplay score, as there is a lot of very clever and inspired gameplay packaged into this 80 minute adventure (blocks to push, torch, waterskin, candles and battery to use, ice to break in a pool, two timed sequences and more). But I had a really hard time getting started, as some of the many keys you need are very sneakily hidden und I ended up running around like a headless chicken for quite some time. Also a 3D underwater maze, even if relatively small, is always a pet hate of mine. It did not manage to spoil the overall very entertaining experience with this great level. Found four times cash secrets, so going to go spend that now on Christmas presents..." - MichaelP (16-Dec-2005)
"The opening setting of this level, with the snow filled, moonlight grounds is utterly stunning. Consequently, I felt like a complete vandal shooting out one of the windows. . If you don't normally enjoy house levels, rest assured this is not the usual stuff - there are some lovely original touches, not least of which is letting the cat out. I even enjoyed the maze section, no honestly I did, and that really is an indication of the calibre of this level. The Christmas card at the end is a perfect touch - you really must not miss this one." - Jay (13-Dec-2005)